Series Introduction: The Brazil Files
by Special Correspondent Wendi Muse
For those of you who are longtime followers of Racialicious, you may remember me as a Special Correspondent.
For those of you who are not, let me re-introduce myself! My name is Wendi Muse. I’m a graduate of New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where I created a major in “Legal and Cultural Studies of Oppressed and Marginalized Peoples,” aka I set myself up for a stint here at Racialicious. After having previously written exclusively for The Coup Magazine, I began writing weekly articles for Racialicious in 2007. My first article was about racism within the Craigslist personal ads, and the rest was history (you can check out my other Racialicious articles here.)
However, in July of 2008, I moved to Brazil to teach English and conduct research. Due to the simple fact that time did not previously allow, I was unable to continue writing here at Racialicious. Fortunately, I have a little more free time, and have come back to share some of my experiences in the magical world of race and ethnicity—Brazilian style!
Before I share my first piece, however, I caution readers that my articles are in no way representative of the entire Brazilian population, nor do I expect them to be a blanket portrayal of the thoughts of millions of people in the largest country in Latin America. That, quite frankly, would be impossible. I do hope, however, to put some myths to rest in addition to opening up the avenues of conversation surrounding race and ethnicity here at Racialicious. We often catch a serious case of myopia when it comes to discussing race in America, and it’s important that we hear the side of our friends down south, too. Their struggles, opinions, and perspectives are equally important and worth giving a listen as we try to make change here stateside.
With that said, I look forward to writing here again! Até mais!
Beijinhos,
Wendi
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
gatamala wrote:
Welcome back. Look forward to your articles.
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 10:03 am ¶
Daniel Wilson wrote:
All I can say is, “Get on it!” Last semester I studied abroad in Peru and researched Afro-Peruvians. It was really an enlightening research. Racial issues are a lot different in Latin America, but they are similar as well. I’m just excited to hear about someone’s experience in Brazil. I’ll be visiting regularly just to read your posts.
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 10:15 am ¶
Matt wrote:
I hope you can veer from race to discuss class disparities (or at least the intersection of class and race)? Looking forward
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 10:22 am ¶
merq wrote:
Welcome back, Wendi. You’ve been missed.
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 10:37 am ¶
Myles wrote:
Welcome back! I’m really looking forward to your posts
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 11:05 am ¶
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:
Hey Wendi, I can’t wait to read about your experiences and insights!
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 12:44 pm ¶
Jo wrote:
I agree with Matt. I’m Brazilian and I often think a lot of discrimination in Brazil has more to do with class than race. But as you said, there are always exceptions.
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 1:13 pm ¶
Thea wrote:
Hooray! Excited that you’re back
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 1:14 pm ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
::tosses confetti::
Yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 1:53 pm ¶
wendi muse wrote:
omg there will def be comments about class…com certezzaaaa
but again, this is just an intro…there are about 15 articles already waiting in the wings… be patient!
oh and i am happy to be back!!! thanks for the welcome, yall!
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 3:10 pm ¶
Lauren O wrote:
I’m a 2nd generation Brazilian and my boyfriend graduated from Gallatin. I feel we have a connection here. =)
Posted 18 Feb 2009 at 3:24 pm ¶
Lisa wrote:
Sounds fascinating, and great to have Wendi back!
On of my dearest friends in Shanghai is gay Brazilian-Taiwanese. And I know several other gay Brazilians living in China. We never discuss race, we’re too busy with cute men and sexuality and language and class.
Maybe that’s meaningful itself; maybe it’s just my friends. Regardless, this is a great thread. Let’s do a China one someday! It will get messy, but interesting.
Posted 19 Feb 2009 at 3:19 pm ¶
Ray wrote:
To muitoooo animado pra ler o que escreve!
Eu morava no Brasil, mas no sul numa cidadinha onde nao tem muita diversidade.
Abracos
Posted 19 Feb 2009 at 6:58 pm ¶
Afro-chan wrote:
Welcome back Wendi. I am so curious to read your articles. I thought racism in the Dominican Republic and Mexico was so interesting when I lived there. Now I live in Japan and help give talks about it here. It is interesting seeing the relationship with Japan-Brazil. Everywhere I go people who will say they are discriminated against because of their race will in the same conversation refer to racism as a US problem.
I have to ask…what was the vibe towards Obama down in Brasil?
I LOVE Racialicious.
Posted 19 Feb 2009 at 11:28 pm ¶
texascowgirl wrote:
@ Jo
But aren’t race and class intertwined?
Posted 20 Feb 2009 at 2:32 am ¶
wondering nomad wrote:
e ai,
the class division in brasil is because of race or even color if you will. they do run parallel and often overlap. however, race is a bigger underlying factor in the pseudo racial democracy.
Posted 20 Feb 2009 at 6:11 am ¶
wendi muse wrote:
14-afro-chan, everyone and their mother always asks me about obama, even more so, obviously, during the election season. this subject practically deserves an article of it’s own. there have been several great pieces on the brazilian perception of obama in a brazilian magazine called Veja, so maybe I will use some of those in a later article. thanks for the question!
ray-onde voce estava morando no sul, e por quanto tempo? tenho vontade de visitar esta regiao do brasil, mas aindo nao fiz!
Posted 20 Feb 2009 at 12:11 pm ¶
Alston Adams wrote:
Aww, Wendi! I don’t think we ever spoke much, but I am very glad to hear from you!
I’m really looking forward to these articles.
Posted 20 Feb 2009 at 12:42 pm ¶
Calisha wrote:
Welcome back! I myself did research and taught English in Brazil for some time. Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
Posted 20 Feb 2009 at 1:37 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:
I find it interesting that you call Brazil one of the largest countries in “Latin America”. I really see Brazil as more of a “South American” country and leave the label of Latin American to countries whose primary language is Spanish (i.e. Columbia). I also read somewhere that there are Brazilians and other South Americans who would rather be viewed as “white” than Latino. Do you know much about this? I think your perspective is going to be very interesting here on racialicious and I look forward to reading what you write.
Posted 23 Feb 2009 at 10:03 am ¶
wendi muse wrote:
re: the latin america vs. south america vs. america debate…brazil is considered part of latin america…but latin america in itself is a very american term…because it pretty much means any country directly below us geographically that doesnt speak english
some americans still think brazilians speak spanish, as some also think spanish and latin are interchangeable terms
however, i used latin america because of the countries that have spanish or portuguese linguistic and cultural influence within the southern hemisphere, brazil is the biggest
re: “white”: it depends on the person. i will get to this issue later, but racial terms are different from person to person. there are plenty of white brazilians, in this case people who are descendants of italians, portuguese, germans, english, and other white european nations. in addition, brazil has a sizeable population of descendants of the middle east, who also, phenotypically speaking, may (or may not, in some cases), be considered white .
there are plenty of people in south america who are phenotypically white and have every right to be called as such. nationality is not the same thing as race. it’s kind of like assuming all north americans are white. or all people from the united states are white. despite where i live, i still call myself black, despite what people may consider me here (which again, is for another article), just as their terms of race may travel with them, despite the sentiment of the population within the host country.
also, latino is an ethnicity that can refer to people of any and all races. you can be black, white, of asian, native or middle eastern descent and still be latino b/c it’s a category based on regional and cultural elements, not necessarily skin color or appearance
i hope that helps answer your question a little bit. stay posted for more!
Posted 23 Feb 2009 at 10:29 pm ¶
Ruchama wrote:
On some of my ancestors’ immigration documents, there are separate spaces for “color,” “complexion,” “race or people,” and “nationality.” For my ancestors, “color” was white, “complexion” was either fair or medium, “race or people” was Hebrew, and “nationality” was whatever country currently ruled over wherever they were born. (I have several ancestors who lived in three countries without ever leaving the town where they were born.)
On the US WWII draft cards, the options to choose from for race were White, Negro, Oriental, Indian, and Filipino. I have no idea why Filipino was counted as a separate race.
Posted 24 Feb 2009 at 12:11 am ¶